


Moving Parts.

by JulianJoyStark



Category: Herbert West - Reanimator - H. P. Lovecraft, Re-Animator (Movies)
Genre: Amnesia, Blood, Denial of Feelings, Frustration, M/M, Probably will add more tags later, Reanimation, dan dies how sad, i have no idea how to tag this, reanimated Dan, teaching someone how to be a person, working with corpses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27097585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JulianJoyStark/pseuds/JulianJoyStark
Summary: Dan Cain meets an unfortunate and embarrassing end. Herbert West can't live with that, so he tries to fix it.orDan dies and Herbert scrambles to bring him back successfully. It works...Mostly.Set sometime between Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator.
Relationships: Daniel Cain/Herbert West
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing Re-Animator fanfic so I'm sorry if it's bad.  
> I'm open to talk about this/take suggestions on my tumblr account ju7ian.tumblr.com  
> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Herbert West was not a very strong man. He had enough upper body strength for his daily activities, and his work, but usually it was Dan who did most of the heavy lifting. 

It took everything he had in him to hoist the body up from the floor and onto the slab in the basement, and he cursed Dan for not being here to help. 

Well, he was there, but he was in no condition to help. Yet. 

Dan Cain had become the work. He was the body on the operating table now. Cold and still. Lifeless in a way that Herbert couldn't stand. 

Not that he wasn't used to corpses. That was the work, his life's work had been with corpses but Dan….Wasn't just another body laid before him. Daniel Cain was a large man, a strong, passionate man, to press his hand against that broad chest and not feel a heartbeat...It brought a sadness over Herbert that he couldn't quite explain. 

It was more than losing his lab partner, he was losing his best friend. His only friend. The only person who had seen who he was, seen his work, and stayed by his side. 

This feeling hadn't surfaced when he'd first found Dan. Face down at the bottom of the steps. After all they'd been through together. Fighting reanimated corpses, going to war in Peru, how could Dan succumb to falling down the steps and hitting his head? How could that be the end of him?

Herbert had been furious, down on his knees, shaking the man, hoping he was wrong, that Dan was just unconscious, but no. 

He was cold, but not yet stiff, pliable enough that he would still move his arms around, enough to drag him into the basement. 

Shaking, and out of breath he slumped over the table, staring down at Dan, frowning. 

"Smart enough to get through med school, but not to walk down the stairs, Daniel? Really?" He scolded the man. It was ridiculous, he shouldn't have to do this. 

The re-agent glowed in it's vial, sitting at the edge of the table, Herbert could see it out of the corner of his eye. 

For a moment, he considered just grabbing it and administering it to Dan, just to get him back but…

No. 

He couldn't mess this up. Dan wasn't just another cadaver he could experiment on, he had to get it right this time. It had to be more than just restoring life, he needed to restore Dan's humanity as well. Something he'd never managed to get right. 

He had to get it right this time. He couldn't fail. He couldn't fail Dan. 

But time. Time was not on his side. Dan was just a human, he would decompose, he would rot. Herbert wasn't sure he could stand the sight of it. He had to act quickly. 

How was he supposed to manage it? Perfecting the re-agent fast enough to be able to bring Dan back without worrying too much about his physical state. 

The worst thing he had to deal with right now was an injury to the back of his head. Thankfully no broken neck, or broken limbs. His rib cage was intact, as well as his spine. Herbert sighed in relief that there wasn’t much to fix on the taller man. Silently, he hoped there was no lasting brain damage.

Dan had simply hit his head too hard, and died. Ridiculous. 

Herbert ended up putting the larger man on ice, to slow the decomposition while he scrambled to perfect the re-agent in time. 

For three days he didn’t sleep, or eat, or do anything other than work on the formula, and check on Dan’s state. For three days, he pumped himself full of re-agent and tried to beat the clock against bringing Dan back to him. 

On the fourth day, he was able to revive an iguana without it turning hostile, and while it was only an iguana, it was going to have to be enough of an improvement to use it on Dan. Herbert was running out of time, and he needed to act now. 

Carefully, he removed the dry ice from around Dan, and strapped him down, just a precaution. If the larger man did turn hostile, he didn’t think he’d be able to fight him off. Best to keep him restrained on the table until he was sure Dan wasn’t going to try and kill him. 

His hands were almost shaking too much to administer the injection, but he found a suitable site in the back of Dan’s neck. “Administering Re-Agent.” Herbert spoke quietly into the tape recorder. 

“Ten seconds, no notable change.” He stared at the man before him, looking for any minor changes. Dan remained still. 

“Fifteen seconds, no change.” He was starting to panic, his voice trembling in a way he didn’t exactly want recorded. 

“Twenty five seconds no-” He was almost finished when Dan’s eyes opened. 

“Twenty seven seconds, signs of life, patient has opened his eyes!” He was ecstatic, although this didn’t necessarily mean it had worked. 

“Dan? Dan!” He stood above the man, shining a flashlight into his opened eyes, while he checked his body for other signs of life. 

All at once, Dan cried out, like so many of his other test subjects had upon coming back from the dead. As if the very act of returning to life was the most painful experience to be had. 

Dan thrashed about on the table, struggling against the bonding keeping him down. Herbert rushed to place a hand on his chest, trying to keep him still. “Dan you’re okay, you’re alive!” He tried to reassure him. Though the most reassuring thing was the heartbeat he felt, rapid, but there. Dan’s heart was beating again, and that was relieving. 

“Daniel, can you hear me?” Herbert asked, after Dan’s harsh movements had stopped, and he was left staring at the ceiling, his breathing shaky and uneven. His nose had started bleeding, and Herbert noted he had blood on the corner of his mouth, but he wasn’t spitting up blood like many of his previous subjects. An improvement. 

“Hear...You.” Dan repeated, his voice rough and strained.

The smile that spread over Herberts face was almost painful. “Yes, yes you can hear me. Do you know who you are? Do you know where you are?” He asked, holding the tape recorder closer to Dan. 

Unfortunately, the other just let out a low groan, and squeezed his eyes shut. Herbert frowned. 

Life had been restored, Dan was very much alive, though how much of him remained was yet to be seen. There was still so much to be done, he’d have to monitor his brain activity, see if he retained any of his memories, his basic motor skills, anything at all. 

However he’d had one small victory. Dan was alive. 

He kept his hand on the larger man’s chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing, feeling his heartbeat, which had thankfully slowed to an acceptable pace. His skin still felt cold, so he pulled away to fetch a spare sheet, unfolding it and draping over him, though keeping him restrained still. “That should feel somewhat better.” He said quietly. 

Dan didn’t speak, but he opened his eyes again, looking up at Herbert, eyes searching him desperately, and Herbert wondered if he recognized him, if he remembered who he was. Dan let out a quiet whine. 

“Subject is alive, but not yet cognizant. Further tests will need to be run.” With that, he switched off the recorder, and set it down before returning his attention to Dan. 

“Look at you, you’re alive. I did it, Dan.” He smiled, but Dan just stared at him, looking lost and somewhat afraid. No doubt due to being strapped to the table. “I’ll give you something to put you to sleep, and tomorrow we will run some tests.” He said, nodding. 

It was odd to render Dan unconscious only moments after bringing him back from the dead, but he couldn’t run any tests tonight, his hands were shaking and he needed a break. 

Dan just let out another groan when he ran an IV into his arm, and watched him slowly fall asleep. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too hard to wake in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan is a difficult test subject.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it so far.   
> I'm not sure how many chapters it's gonna be because I'm not done writing it yet, but I'm working on it!

Dan proved to be quite difficult to test. Most attempts to question went the same. Daniel would start off by repeating fragments of what Herbert had asked him, before turning into an uncooperative groaning mess. 

Other than the lack of communication, Dan seemed to be in a good physical state. He could be unrestrained without attacking, and he could sit up and move his arms easily. Walking was a bit challenging, he mostly stumbled around, knocking things over all around the lab until Herbert guided him gently back to the table. 

Dan moved quite slowly. He was never erratic or hostile. It was a great improvement from other test subjects, but it wasn’t what Herbert had wanted. 

He wanted Dan. 

The thing currently sitting in front of him looked like Dan, and his voice sounded like Dan’s when he would speak, but it wasn’t truly Dan. He was starting to fear the Dan Cain he’d known was gone. Lost somewhere between life and death. 

Herbert let out an exhausted sigh before switching on the tape recorder. “Resuming tests of cognitive functions. It has been one week since effective reanimation.” He spoke into the machine, before looking to Dan. “Do you know your name?” He asked. 

“Name…?” Dan repeated, in a questioning tone. Always with the repetition, it was driving him mad. 

“Yes, your name. Do you know who you are?” He asked, the same way he’d asked him every day for a week, never getting anywhere. 

“Name...” Dan repeated, staring at Herbert. “Dan?” 

Herbert's eyes widened, “Yes. Yes you are.” He said, smiling, and Dan smiled back, as he often did for no reason at all. “You are Dan.” It could just be that he’d remembered Herbert calling him that a few times, it did sound questioning, but it was progress! “Do you know who I am?” 

The smile fell away from Dan’s face when he was questioned again, and it was replaced with another look of confusion. “You?” He asked, studying Herbert’s face. 

Of course, he wasn’t expecting Dan to get that one right. Even if it was a bit of a blow to his ego. He was only the person that took care of the big oaf. Tried to feed him, walked him around the lab, taught him how to drink out of a straw. Dan had become more of a pet than a friend. 

“Yes, me. I’m Herbert West. We’re….Partners. Friends.” He explained. “We work together. Do you remember any of our work?” He asked, looking expectantly at Dan. Dan who had become the work. Successful yet so unsuccessful all at the same time. 

“Work.” Dan repeated, fidgeting with his fingers nervously. “The work.” He offered a small smile to Herbert, perhaps hoping he’d gotten the question half right. He hadn’t. 

Herbert just sighed, and shook his head. “Patient still shows no sign of intelligent thought, or memory of his life pre-death.” He hated to sound so defeated, but it had been a week. Maybe it was brain damage. Maybe the fall that had taken Dan’s life had done more harm than he’d originally thought. Although every time he monitored Dan’s brainwaves, he seemed to be having conscious thoughts, he seemed to be thinking just fine. 

Perhaps there was a disconnect between speech and thought. Herbert struggled to find new excuses for why Dan wasn’t himself. Why he hadn’t been able to bring him back whole and correct. Why he was stuck with the shell of the former doctor. Smiling like a fool and staring at him. 

“Tests will continue tomorrow.” He shut the recorder off, having spent not nearly as long today trying to coax answers out of the man. Normally he’d spend hours just trying to talk to him, but he was tired, and maybe a bit more sad than he’d like to admit. 

Silently, he stood from the stool he’d been sitting on, and watched how Dan’s eyes followed his movements. “Dan.” He addressed him, moving closer to where he was sitting on the edge of the operating table. Silently, he stared at the other man, and Dan stared back. “What do you think about?” He asked, putting one hand on his bare shoulder. The larger man had regained his warmth. 

Maybe it was the type of question he should have recorded, because for once, Dan had an answer that wasn’t just him repeating what Herbert had asked. 

“You.” He answered easily, staring at him. 

Herbert's eyes widened, shocked by this response. "Me?" He asked, furrowing his brows. Why him? Although, he supposed it made sense. 

This Dan only knew him. This Dan only knew this room. Only the lab, only the basement. 

So why would he think if anything else?

Dan just stared at him, a small smile on his lips as he looked as lost as ever. It was pathetic. This wasn't Dan Cain. The man had never been all that bright, but he'd been better than this thing. 

"I'm going upstairs for the day. Do you want me to put you to sleep?" Herbert asked finally, pulling away from Dan and grabbing the IV, ready to put the thing out of its misery for a few hours. 

Surprisingly, Dan rose from the table, taking a few shakey steps towards Herbert and reaching out for him. "Upstairs." He repeated, looking between the smaller man and the steps out of the basement, as if asking if he could come. 

Herbert swallowed, following Dan's gaze over to the steps before shaking his head. "No. No you can not come upstairs." He decided, and ignored the way Dan frowned at him. 

"Absolutely not. The last time you tried to navigate something as simple as stairs, I came home and found you dead." He argued, being more aggressive than he had intended. "And you were fully functional then, I can't even imagine what you would end up doing to yourself now." 

Dan recoiled from him, looking confused and hurt. 

"Dead...?" He asked, his voice quiet and shaken. 

Herbert just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "I don't want to explain it to you, you wouldn't even be able to comprehend most of it." He abandoned the IV on the table and headed towards the stairs. "Stay here and do nothing then, if you don't want to sleep." 

He didn't wait for any sort of response from what used to be Dan, he just stomped up the stairs and slammed the basement door, locking it behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's strange to miss someone you see every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does the ending of this chapter count as a cliffhanger? I hope so.   
> Thanks for reading! I appreciate the kudos and the hits so far!  
> Feel free to leave a comment if you want, if not, thanks for just being here!

Upstairs, free from having to look at his greatest success, yet greatest failure, Herbert made his way silently to Dan's room. The one he wasn't using currently, and possibly would never use again. 

A sadness washed over him that he tried to ignore, but it was difficult. Everything about this situation was difficult. 

Dan was alive, yes, but the most important parts of him were still dead. 

One of the main things that made Dan so interesting to him had been his humanity. Dan was a kind, and caring person. Dan had seen terrible things, experienced painful loss, but still kept his kind nature. It was baffling to Herbert on good days, and frustrating to him on bad days. 

Now though, Dan was no more than a husk. Still undeniably kind, he still smiled at Herbert for seemingly no reason at all. Perhaps that was a glimmer of hope, perhaps not. Only time would tell, but he was getting tired of waiting. 

It had been a week and three days since he lost Dan. His Dan. Herbert hated to admit that he missed him, that he’d become lonely. 

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of something thumping against the basement door. 

Which could only mean that Dan had managed to climb the basement stairs, and was now hitting some part of himself against the door. What joy. Doing something he’d told him not to. Maybe this was how the taller man felt about him? 

With a sigh, he approached the door, unlocking it and throwing it open, causing the man on the other side to fall forward, taking them both down onto the floor, Dan sprawled on top of him, looking afraid and frantic. 

“I told you to stay downstairs! What did I say about stairs? I know you can hear me, I know you comprehend what I’m saying!” He tried to scold the man, but it was less effective when he was lying underneath him, his glasses slightly askew from the fall. “Get up!” 

Dan scrambled to get up, struggling and falling back onto him. It was obvious he didn’t like being yelled at, who would? However it seemed to cause him more distress than normal. 

With the larger man off of him, Herbert easily brought himself to his feet, fixing his glasses and helping to steady Dan on his feet, putting his hands on his shoulders and keeping him still. “Daniel?” He asked, trying to get him to focus on him, but he was looking all around, no doubt overwhelmed by the change in scenery. 

Dan’s eyes snapped to him, though he still looked afraid. “Upstairs.” He said, relaxing slightly in Herbert’s grip. 

“Yes, you’re upstairs.” He confirmed, looking him over. He’d stripped his clothes away, save for his boxers, when he was looking over the damage on his body, perhaps now was a good time to get him dressed. “Come with me.” He instructed, moving to take hold of one of his arms, guiding him slowly to his bedroom. 

The way that Dan looked around as they walked was almost sort of endearing to him, like he was showing him around for the first time. In a way, he was. 

“This is your bedroom, you used to live here, before you…” He trailed off, thinking of the way Dan had reacted when he told him he was dead earlier. “You had an accident.” That seemed like a more simplistic way to put it. Saying someone had an accident was much softer than saying they had died. 

“Accident?” Dan asked, looking around the room, before sitting himself down on the unmade bed. “Stairs.” He added, and Herbert looked up from where he was rummaging in Dan’s dresser for clothes. 

“Yes, you fell down the stairs.” He confirmed. “Do you remember falling down the stairs?” He asked, turning to face Dan again, wishing he had been recording this conversation. 

Another worried look came over Dan, and he reached up slowly to touch the back of his head. 

Herbert really wished he was recording this conversation. 

“Dan?” He asked, moving towards him slowly, “Do you remember falling down the stairs?” Perhaps that was the key then, familiar settings. Dan’s bedroom was familiar to him, in a more intimate way than the lab was, maybe he’d do better in here after all…

“I…” Dan began, but seemed lost for words, like he couldn’t quite communicate what he was thinking. Perhaps brain damage was still on the table. 

Herbert simply nodded, and went back to the dresser, pulling out some fresh boxers and a pair of Dan's jeans. 

The thought of a doctor wearing jeans was always amusing to him. 

Dan was always amusing to him. 

When he turned back around, Dan had gotten up from the bed and started to move around the room, slowly. He seemed to be looking over the various items he just had sitting around. Herbert hoped at least one of them would help him come back to himself. 

What he stopped and lingered on though, was not ideal. 

A framed photo of Dan and Megan Halsey. Not exactly a memory he wanted plaguing Dan's already fragile mind.


End file.
